Two journalists attacked in a week in Northern Ireland

London, December 19, 2012--The Committee to Protect
Journalists is alarmed that two attacks against journalists in Northern Ireland
have taken place over the past week. On Friday, a pipe bomb was left at the
door of the home of freelance press photographer Mark Pearce. On Monday, Adrian
Rutherford, a reporter with the daily Belfast
Telegraph, was attacked by a gang while covering Loyalist protests in East
Belfast.

Early Friday morning, police alerted Pearce, who has worked
as a photojournalist for more than 20 years and frequently covers political
rallies and demonstrations, that a pipe bomb was planted in front of his home in
Carraig Crosain near Newry, County Down, according to local news reports. Pearce,
his partner, and two children, evacuated along with the occupants of five neighboring
homes. The photojournalist believes the bomb was in connection to his work, as
reported by the Guardian, BBC, Belfast Telegraph and other U.K.
media.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland told CPJ it is too
early to confirm whether the bomb attempt was related to Pearce's journalism
but will follow all lines of inquiry.

In a separate case, on Monday, a masked mob chased Rutherford
down the street, assaulted him, and stole his mobile phone. Northern Ireland
has witnessed two weeks of demonstrations by loyalists opposed to Belfast city
council's decision to cut the number of days the union flag flies above city
hall.

"We call on law
enforcement authorities in Northern Ireland to act swiftly and efficiently in
investigating the attacks against Mark Pearce and Adrian Rutherford, and bring
all perpetrators to justice," said Nina Ognianova, CPJ's Europe and Central
Asia program coordinator in New York. "It is alarming to see journalists in
Northern Ireland confronting what appears to be an increasing number of attacks."

The two attacks are the latest of several disturbing
incidents involving the press in Northern Island this year. In early December, a
Belfast-based Associated Press photographer, Peter Morrison, was injured
when caught up in a violent clash between police and demonstrators.

In August, a Belfast journalist received
death threats reportedly from the Ulster Defense Association, an outlawed
vigilante group reportedly formed to protect Protestants from alleged attacks
by Irish republicans. (The group officially ended its armed campaign in
November 2007.) Local publications withheld the journalist's identity.

Violence against the press is a raw issue in Northern
Ireland. In 2001, prominent investigative journalist Martin
O'Hagan was shot dead by paramilitaries, in front of his wife, as the
couple was leaving a pub in the town of Lurgan. O'Hagan's killing remains
unsolved.